Holy negative attitudes Batman!
Itâs not like me to be sun-shiney, but Iâll be contrarian as usual at least.
I see this question a lot, and there is good advice and bad advice on the issue. My opinion is thus:
1) For young families, Live near (your best) family! It doesnât matter where they are, just be close by. This is rule #1. I have three good families within 60 minutes of my house. Iâve never needed a baby sitter, the grandmaâs argue over who gets to watch my kidâs next! I need help this weekend moving a cast iron tub, so I called my dad. My Kitchenaid broke, I called my brother the Su-Chef. My computer broke, I called my brother-in-law, an Electrical Engineer. My father is a master plumber, my step-dad an draftsman engineer, amateur carpenter and woodworker. I give financial advice and do everybodyâs taxes. We SAVE so much money by helping each other out, that it worth thousands of dollars a year just being close to each other.
2) Also for young families, live near a hospital. Nothing makes you hate yourself more than losing a child or a wife (or yourself) because you made a bad decision. Iâm all for natural child birthing, both of my children were natural, without mom having a drop of anything. But they were also born in the hospital (under the care of a midwife) just in case something went wrong.
3) Live where this is âabundantâ water. You want access to at least 2,000 gallons a week, year in, year out. Either a deep well, running brook, spring on your land, or good rainfall and home cistern. Do not rely on the government to provide the 2nd most important thing to survival (after O2).
4) Live near your church. Whatever religion you are, find a church/tabernacle/synagogue/mosque you like. Churches are like families, they are a community of like minded folk who will help each other out.
5) Live where you like the weather. Some folk hate the cold. I hate hot weather. You can only take so many clothes off, you can always put one more sweatshirt on.
6) Live near folk like yourself.
7) Live where you can work. Life throws lots of curveballs. Iâve got lots of anecdotal evidence to that one. Best laid plans will go awry, but even with a terminal illness, you can go back to work. Trust me.
As for specifically where? Without considering rule #1 up above.
I like the Ozarks, western Wisconsin, and coastal Alaska. I would not live near any major cities. With Bush spending my childrenâs money on a $500 billion dollar pork deficit, we are going to witness another Great Depression soon enough. And I donât want gang-bangers stealing chickens.
I live in central Iowa. Iâm about 40 miles from Des Moines, where jobs in construction and the financial industry are plentiful. Hospitals are good here, the state has a lot of young children, and a lot of retired grandmothers â so crime is low, and schools are good. I average 38 inches of rain a year, and when I finish my new cistern it will hold 10,000 gallons â a 3 month supply, augmented by a solar powered and hand driven sand point well on my 35â water table.
And I grew up here. I have lots of family to help as needed. My father moved to a condo, so he ârentsâ part of my garden. Land is fairly cheap, about $3k an acre for farmland and $2k for âsleughâ or wooded pasture to your foreigners. And that is darn fine land. I can grow excellent crops without any chemical soil additives, just an annual rotation.
We have warts, a large meth industry, a gentrified population and an economy reliant on Fed.gov for handouts (social security and farm program payments are the #2 and #3 income sources here after salaries).